It wouldn’t be professional wrestling if there wasn’t controversy. For years, there have been rumors of scandal, poor treatment of employees and cheating and lying. Somewhere as I am writing this, Jerry Springer is smiling.
When there is smoke, there is usually fire. In this case, disgruntled employees have told their stories – some in a court of law – exposing the seedy side of this business. The McMahon Family has not been without controversy over the years, but then again, they have made millions at the expense of a good angle and promotion. These former employees stood up and spoke out, exposing the inner walls of a company that has taken over the business.
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These are five instances where former employees revealed things about the company WWE wouldn’t want fans to know about.
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#1 Sable sues WWE over lesbian angle
As odd as this one sounds to start things off, there is legal validation to it. Sable was the most desirable and the most important diva of the Attitude Era, gaining more popularity than her husband Marc Mero (real life husband at the time). Sable was a WWE Women’s Champion as well as a Playboy Playmate – the first in the company.
In June of 1999, she filed a $110 million dollar lawsuit against the company, alleging that WWE wanted her to participate in a lesbian storyline, expose her breasts on TV and appear in sexually degrading photos. Despite her look and her character making the company millions of dollars, there was a line she drew in the ring and was not ready to cross over.
#2 Billy Jack Haynes sues company over lack of protection for wrestlers
I know about this lawsuit first hand – because it was just dismissed in court earlier this year, but also because Haynes accused me of being a mark for the McMahons when I attempted to interview him about the lawsuit. Haynes was a popular wrestler in both Oregon and Florida before moving to WWE in 1986. He alleges Vince McMahon is the reason for the deaths of several wrestlers, including Chris Benoit and his family. He also said he contracted Hepatitis-C while wrestling Hercules Hernandez.
In October of 2014, Haynes filed a lawsuit in federal court against WWE, alleging "egregious mistreatment of its wrestlers for its own benefit, as well as its concealment and denial of medical research and evidence concerning traumatic brain injuries suffered by WWE wrestlers."
#3 The independent contract
Wrestlers moved from promotion to promotion in the 1980s when WWF competed with the NWA and AWA for mat supremacy. As these promotions folded and performers found their own niche, the notion of “independent contracts” became obsolete. So when wrestlers hitched their wagons to WWE they expected to be treated like “employees” under contract.
Raven challenged the company in 2008 along with other wrestlers who alleged they were being cheated out of health care and benefits and since the landscape of the business had changed, the rules and contracts for performers had to change as well. The lawsuit opened the door for health policy and contract policy to change and be rewritten in the McMahon circus.
#4 CM Punk
Of course, this list would not be complete without a CM Punk appearance. We all know about the troubles between Punk and the company through the years over contract issues. We also know Punk left the company after 2014 Royal Rumble.
Punk later claimed the company did not properly treat an injury that led to a staph infection that he alleges the WWE medical team had been brushing off for weeks. Punk is not the only wrestler who has made these kind of allegations in the past with injuries that might have needed time off to be treated was replaced with medications and prescriptions.
#5 Superstar Billy Graham tells all
Superstar Billy Graham was one of the greatest heels in the old WWF – before Vince McMahon bought the company from his father. Graham was one of the most outspoken opponents of the company during the height of the steroid controversy in the early 1990s. Graham had been interviewed about the issues with wrestlers and performers and spoke openly that he was “forced” to take them.
At one point, in a famous interview on the Phil Donohue Show, he claimed that he saw children sexually abused by WWE employees, a claim he later recanted admitting it was an effort to extort money from the McMahons. The claims of sexual abuse and steroid have been prominent for decades.
